Curry-Spiced Noodles

If you don't know by now, I *very much like* Asian noodle dishes, of nearly any variety. This month in my Cooking Light Magazine, a new vegetarian curry noodle dish popped out at me. The photo was too tantalizing to pass up.

The great thing about making food at home, is that you get to control the ingredients. I'm not one for super salty or super spicy, so rather than worry about how many preservatives and days worth of salt intake that I ingested at a restaurant, I've stocked my fridge and pantry with enough ingredients to fake my way through most stir-fry and noodle dishes.

Buying ingredients like fish sauce, peanut oil, sesame oils, etc, were a bit daunting at first. I always have an inner argument regarding the cost of a certain pantry item and how much I'll *really* use it before it expires or gets lost in the shuffle. I find that now that I have certain items, I throw them in on a whim - to experiment, to add different flavors, etc. My best advice however, if you don't think you'll use it twice within a 2 month period - and the cost is a bit daunting - you can most likely leave it out or find an equal substitute.

Ok, I have already talked waaay too much about non-dinner things.

Curry Noodles:

When I first saw this recipe, the ingredient list is a bit over-whelming, to say the least: 19 items. I was really quite thrilled that I already had the majority of the non-produce items in my pantry, so there was not too much purchasing involved.

The recipe called for Udon noodles, which are a Japanese wheat noodle. I struck out finding these in Fred's when I went earlier in the week, so I decided to use the leftovers of my pasta making excursion earlier in the week -I had frozen up some fresh spaghetti noodles. They were perfect to soak up the delicious sauce.

The ingredient list:

• 8 oz of Udon noodles (I used about a 1/3 lb of spaghetti) *not pictured
  
• 4 tsp of peanut oil *not pictured
  
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1 each, red & green bell pepper sliced thinly
• 8 oz of shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp chopped lemongrass
• 1/2 tbsp ginger
• 1 tbsp red curry paste
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• dash of salt
• 3 green onions
• 1/3 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup cashews

Whew, sounds like a lot, looks like a lot, but every ingredient plays its own staring roll. I can't imagine leaving anything out.

• Cook noodles, and keep warm.
• Saute carrots in 1/2 of the peanut oil for about 2 minutes. Add in the bell peppers and saute for another 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Saute mushrooms with the remaining peanut oil for 2 minutes. Add the lemongrass, ginger, curry paste, cumin, tumeric, garlic, water, vegetable broth, soy sauce and dash of salt. Bring this mixture up to a boil and make sure to stir it all well or some of the dry spices will stick to the mushrooms. Let the mushroom/sauce mixture simmer for a minute or 2.
• 

• Add back the carrot/bell pepper mixture and toss in the cooked noodles.
  
• Throw in the green onions, cilantro and cashews.
• Enjoy!

The homemade noodles really soaked up the sauce and flavors and held up to the veggies quite well. Definitely will whip this one up again.